EVO Will Be Coming to Japan, More Details at Toyko Game Show 2016

Those behind the organization of EVO (Evolution Championship Series) made the announcement on Sunday that the highly popular fighting game tournament will be making its way over to the island nation of Japan! While no further details were given on Sunday, it was stated that more information will be released this September at the 2016 Tokyo Game Show, Japan’s version of E3. Yoshinori Ono, series producer for Street Fighter, and Katsuhiro Harada, series producer for Tekken, were on stage for the announcement.

This won’t be the first time EVO attempted to visit Japan. EVO attempted a tournament there in 2011 as part of a collaboration with Godsgarden, a special invitation-only tournament; however, due to the Tohoku earthquake, the event was postponed indefinitely.

EVO took place this year in Las Vegas, Nevada and featured games such as Street Fighter V, Tekken 7, Mortal Kombat XL, Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3, Guilty Gear Xrd: Revelator and Super Smash Bros. Melee. The finals for Street Fighter V were featured on ESPN as well as ESPN2’s WatchESPN online streaming service. The event was also broadcast on Twitch.tv. Seon-won Lee (RZR|Infiltration) won the Street Fighter V tournament while his teammate Keita Ai (RZR|Fuudo) came in second place. The Street Fighter V tournament alone saw 5,107 attendees!

This year marked the 20th anniversary of EVO as the tournament began in 1996 under the name “Battle by the Bay” in California. It changed its name to Evolution Championship Series in 2002 and has been holding the event regularly in Las Vegas since then. This year, Outerhaven’s own Adriel “Arangel” Rangel and Holland “Nitro” Culbreath participated in the tournament!

About The Author

Josh (or J.J. as some have come to call him), is a long-time geek culture enthusiast with a deep passion for anime, manga and Japanese culture.
Josh also has a Bachelor of Arts in Game Design and is a creative writer who has created original content for over 20 years! He is also the author of the original English light novel Final Hope.